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Au sommaire du vol. 4, n° 3 (fév.-mars 08) de la revue Innovate. Journal of Online Education:

- Online Teaching and Classroom Change: The Trans-Classroom Teacher in the Age of the Internet
Online and face-to-face courses are often viewed and studied as two distinct worlds, but the social field of the teacher who teaches them may well include both, and both the teacher and the courses he or she teaches may be transformed by the movement from one environment to the other. Susan Lowes explores this two-way interaction between face-to-face and online teaching, addressing two important questions: Do teachers who move between face-to-face and online classrooms transfer ideas, strategies, and practices from one to the other? If so, which strategies and practices do they transfer? Particularly, Lowes focuses on the constraints and affordances of the online environment itself and how these affect face-to-face classroom practice.

- Let Me Learn with My Peers Online!: Foreign Language Learning Through Reciprocal Peer Tutoring
Rayenne Dekhinet, Keith Topping, David Duran, and Silvia Blanch describe a pilot project on the use of Internet-assisted reciprocal peer tutoring in foreign-language learning. The eight-week project connected Spanish-speaking English-language learners at a primary school in Catalonia with English-speaking Spanish-language learners at a Scottish primary school. Children were matched in pairs and acted as language tutors in their own mother tongue to their peers. Each week, the children wrote or corrected a text, depending on their role for that week, and sent messages to their peers. During and after the intervention, data were collected in the form of observations, participant and teacher interviews, and analysis of student writing in the target languages. The results of this study show how Internet technology can be leveraged with reciprocal peer tutoring to enhance language learning.

- Learning at a Distance: Engaged or Not?
In this study, Pu-Shih Chen, Robert Gonyea, and George Kuh compare the engagement of distance learners in educationally effective activities with that of their campus-based counterparts and compare the engagement of older distance learners relative to younger online students. Although distance learning is the fastest growing segment of postsecondary education, questions remain about the quality of distance education; a key unresolved issue is the degree to which online learners are engaged in effective educational practices. These results indicate that distance learners are generally as engaged and often more engaged than other students in most educational practices, with the exception of active and collaborative learning activities. Older distance learners report greater gains and are more likely to use higher-order mental processes (e.g., analysis and synthesis) than younger distance learners. Chen, Gonyea, and Kuh discuss the implications of these results for colleges and universities and indicate directions for future work.

- When the Medium Illustrates the Content: Exploiting the Unique Features of Online Communication
Julie Foertsch and Morton Ann Gernsbacher present the results of an evaluation of an online undergraduate course in psychology that adheres to the seven widely accepted principles of effective online teaching and suggests an eighth principle: using the unique benefits and constraints of online communication to prompt critical thinking about various facets of human communication, psychology, sociology, or human-computer interface design. Formative evaluation of this new course, carried out by Foertsch over three semesters, showed that it benefited from an illuminating association between its content--the cognitive and social experiences of people with autism--and its online delivery method, in which students communicated with each other and the professor in asynchronous and synchronous forums that removed the nonverbal social cues present in face-to-face communication. By applying the seven principles to the design of this course, Gernsbacher created a learning environment that 87% of 105 upper-division students rated as "extremely" or "very" useful in developing their critical thinking skills and a course that a number of students described as one of the best they had ever taken.

- V-Learning: How Gaming and Avatars are Engaging Online Students
Len Annetta, Marta Klesath, and Shawn Holmes describe how avatars in virtual learning environments (VLEs) can contribute to the learning experience by giving students a sense of social presence and investment in the learning community that may otherwise be difficult to access. VLEs have the potential to become the next generation of instructional tools for online learning. By allowing students to simulate the campus experience online, VLEs offer rich, flexible class environments without compromising their reach to diverse students desiring online courses. Describing studies carried out in the WolfDen VLE, Annetta, Klesath, and Holmes examine how gaming and avatars are engaging online students and the role personality may play in a student's selection of an avatars.

- Experiential Work-Integrated Online Learning: Insights from an Established UK Higher Education Program
Lydia Arnold explores how work-based learners can embrace technology-enabled ways of learning. The case study of the BA (Honours) Learning Technology Research (BA LTR) program at Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom , shows how a unique learning blend that combines online social learning, work-based learning, inquiry-led learning, and high degrees of personalization can be used to enable and empower learners. Additionally, Arnold illustrates the unique characteristics of the BA LTR program and the role that these play in enabling work-based learners to participate fully in learning. The article explores the role of the work-based context as both a source of motivation and an authentic learning environment for BA LTR learners.

- Perspective on Certainty-Based Marking: An Interview with Tony Gardner-Medwin
In this edition of Perspectives, Reid Cornwell discusses certainty-based marking (CBM) with Tony Gardner-Medwin, professor emeritus of physiology at University College London (UCL), which adopted a simple, theoretically sound version of CBM in its medical education program. CBM has been shown to encourage thinking, reflection, improved analysis, and synthesis and to improve both the reliability and validity of students' exam data in measuring partial knowledge. However, CBM has been adopted in very few places and is sometimes regarded with skepticism. The UCL initiative has used computer technology to produce empirically convincing results. A comparison of CBM scores with conventional (correct/incorrect) scores revealed marked improvements in standard measurements of reliability. Gardner-Medwin describes the CBM system used by UCL and its philosophical, methodological, and pedagogical underpinnings, as well as the qualitative and quantitative advantages of CBM more generally.

Le n° 5, vol. 3 (juin-juillet 07) de la revue Innovate est paru.

> Coaching and Mentoring on the Internet Highway
> Changing Needs, Changing Models: Instructional Technology Training at Bronx Community College
> Using Video Conferencing in Lecture Classes
> Reusable Learning Objects Through Peer Review: The Expertiza Approach
> Backwards into the Future: Seven Principles for Educating the Ne(x)t Generation
> Questioning Assumptions About Students' Expectations for Technology in College Classrooms
> The Knowledge Building Paradigm: A Model of Learning for Net Generation Students

Le dernier numéro d'Innovate - Journal of Online Education (avr.-mai, vol. 3, n°4) est consacré à la "Net Generation".

"Over the last twenty years, a new generation of students has started to appear, first in our K-12 schools and more recently in our colleges and universities. Known as the Net Generation, this is a generation that has grown up with video games, computers, and the Internet."

(Allez, soyons pas effrayés, ils ont deux mains, deux jambes - enfin, sauf accidents... ;-))